Busy week last week! In preparation for the bone marrow transplant I had multiple tests including a dental x-ray which required a trip by ambulance to the west campus of Beth Israel. My first breath of fresh air since being admitted on 12/15! Kate was with me and it was quite an adventure.
There are so many contingencies regarding the bone marrow transplant I hesitate to hang my hat on any date. The general plan is to do the transplant in about three weeks. We have a donor match from the bone marrow registry and all my tests show me to be a strong candidate for the procedure. There is currently no leukemia cells in my blood which is encouraging. I will have a bone marrow biopsy the week of Feb 9th (probably Monday or Tuesday) to see if I am in remission - until the results are in from that biopsy all dates regarding the transplant are tentative.
So it still is kind of a 'if this, then that...' situation. I am so grateful we have a donor and a general plan.
I will try to be more diligent about updating the blog - last week was unusually busy with all the tests.
Love to all and thanks for your continued support for me and my family
Maureen
Saturday, January 31, 2015
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Wednesday 1/28/15
A beautiful snow free day after the blizzard of 2015. Kate is here with me and we are having another lovely day. It will likely be another week or so before my next bone marrow biopsy which will determine next steps - hopefully 'conditioning' chemo followed by the transplant. The 'if this - then that' factors are mind boggling and I will spare you those. Thanks for checking in and for all your love, prayers and support.
Love, Maureen
Love, Maureen
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Weekend Update 1/24/15 - 1/25/15 'A Very Guinness Weekend'
The staff arranged for a special visitor this weekend - our perennial puppy Guinness! Jim, the kids, my Mom, Guinness and I spent the day chatting, eating pizza, and homemade whoopie pies in the shape of slightly deflated footballs :) (thanks Caroline)
What a treat having everyone together - Guinness was quite excited to see his Mama but managed to keep it together for the most part. There is lovely little family room for visits like these and it REALLY lifted my spirits. It was almost like I was someplace else for a couple of hours.
My Mom is here through tomorrow and will overlap Kate by one day (Kate arrives this evening). We are supposed to get a "raging" storm Monday night into Tuesday - hope travel for everyone goes okay!
Nothing much to report on the treatment/recovery side...for the most part I continue to feel pretty energetic and strong. The low moments one would expect from my treatment come, are addressed, and absolutely do not set me back.
As always thanks for your love and support
Maureen
What a treat having everyone together - Guinness was quite excited to see his Mama but managed to keep it together for the most part. There is lovely little family room for visits like these and it REALLY lifted my spirits. It was almost like I was someplace else for a couple of hours.
My Mom is here through tomorrow and will overlap Kate by one day (Kate arrives this evening). We are supposed to get a "raging" storm Monday night into Tuesday - hope travel for everyone goes okay!
Nothing much to report on the treatment/recovery side...for the most part I continue to feel pretty energetic and strong. The low moments one would expect from my treatment come, are addressed, and absolutely do not set me back.
As always thanks for your love and support
Maureen
Friday, January 23, 2015
Friday Jan 23
Quick Update - feeling pretty strong today and so glad to have my Mom here. She arrived on Wed and we have really had a nice time. Jim and the kids come in this weekend (weather permitting!) and I continue to keep a close eye on deflategate.
Love
Maureen
Love
Maureen
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Wed 1/21/2015
Another quiet day in store - this is the last day of my second 7 day course of chemo. After this the next step is either straight into a bone marrow transplant or another round of chemo. It is not clear if I will be going home before the next step. And that next step is to be determined by a myriad of factors including how I respond to this round of chemo (so far so good despite some of the early side effects) and confirmation/availability of donor (more on this as I know more but things are looking promising)
Great friends spent the morning with me yesterday and my Mom comes in again this afternoon. Again thanks for all your kindness and support.
Great friends spent the morning with me yesterday and my Mom comes in again this afternoon. Again thanks for all your kindness and support.
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Tuesday Jan 20th
I think this next week will offer not much in the way of 'new' information. We are finishing up the second round of chemo around Wed or Thursday of this week then it is a waiting game for my counts to come up (reference earlier posts from round 1 chemo for what that all means). The medical staff is incredibly competent and responsive. I am absolutely in the right place.
On a this is awesome note...Father Eric from our St Michael North Andover Parish came in to see me yesterday. It was so nice Jim was here and Fr. Eric got a chance to meet my cousin Mark and wife Karen. This week many of the St Michael middle schoolers are going on a trip to DC for the Walk for Life. In addition to the walk, the kids will see Arlington National Cemetery and a monument or two. Emma is going with several of her friends and Fr. Eric is a chaperone. For the bus ride I suggested singing '100 bottles of beer on the wall' 100x but he thought he could come up with something more mission appropriate.
That's it for now
Much Love
Maureen
On a this is awesome note...Father Eric from our St Michael North Andover Parish came in to see me yesterday. It was so nice Jim was here and Fr. Eric got a chance to meet my cousin Mark and wife Karen. This week many of the St Michael middle schoolers are going on a trip to DC for the Walk for Life. In addition to the walk, the kids will see Arlington National Cemetery and a monument or two. Emma is going with several of her friends and Fr. Eric is a chaperone. For the bus ride I suggested singing '100 bottles of beer on the wall' 100x but he thought he could come up with something more mission appropriate.
That's it for now
Much Love
Maureen
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Weekend Update / Saturday Jan 17 & Sun Jan 18
Bit of a lag since my last post - sorry about that
On the "this is awesome front" my lifelong friend Lisa and her daughter (my Goddaughter) Taylor have been here since Friday. They live in Florida and have braved some wicked cold temps to come see me - it has been wonderful and they are here through Monday. My Mom comes back on Wed. Hopefully we will climb out of the single digits by then! My Dad's first cousin Fr Mike Crosby came by on Thursday. He is a Capuchin priest and met with Cardinal Sean O'Malley prior to coming to see me. In addition to the joy of seeing Mike, he also brought me rosary beads blessed by both the Cardinal and the Pope. Between that blessing and your prayers I am spiritually fortified for sure. And the empty shelf left by the Christmas decorations we finally took down were replaced by the most spectacular balloon bouquet from my friends at Words and Numbers. They are very fun and thank you.
On the medical side - I started my second round of Chemo on Thursday night. There were some potential side effects that became quite real for me (I'll spare you the details) and the last couple days have been 'low energy' to say the least. This chemo regimen started with a pill and today moves to IV chemo similar to what I had in round one. I guess it is not terribly uncommon for the first round to not yield the desired results and this does not change by prognosis (goal: remission followed by the curative bone marrow transplant).
If I've not returned a call or text please bear with me - everything seems to take a little bit more effort lately. But please keep them coming - I LOVE your cards, comments, prayers, good wishes and mostly all you are doing for my family. I have an amazing life and am so grateful to you all.
Go Patriots!
With Love
Maureen
On the "this is awesome front" my lifelong friend Lisa and her daughter (my Goddaughter) Taylor have been here since Friday. They live in Florida and have braved some wicked cold temps to come see me - it has been wonderful and they are here through Monday. My Mom comes back on Wed. Hopefully we will climb out of the single digits by then! My Dad's first cousin Fr Mike Crosby came by on Thursday. He is a Capuchin priest and met with Cardinal Sean O'Malley prior to coming to see me. In addition to the joy of seeing Mike, he also brought me rosary beads blessed by both the Cardinal and the Pope. Between that blessing and your prayers I am spiritually fortified for sure. And the empty shelf left by the Christmas decorations we finally took down were replaced by the most spectacular balloon bouquet from my friends at Words and Numbers. They are very fun and thank you.
On the medical side - I started my second round of Chemo on Thursday night. There were some potential side effects that became quite real for me (I'll spare you the details) and the last couple days have been 'low energy' to say the least. This chemo regimen started with a pill and today moves to IV chemo similar to what I had in round one. I guess it is not terribly uncommon for the first round to not yield the desired results and this does not change by prognosis (goal: remission followed by the curative bone marrow transplant).
If I've not returned a call or text please bear with me - everything seems to take a little bit more effort lately. But please keep them coming - I LOVE your cards, comments, prayers, good wishes and mostly all you are doing for my family. I have an amazing life and am so grateful to you all.
Go Patriots!
With Love
Maureen
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